Classification of $(q,q)$-biprojective APN functions

Abstract

In this paper, we classify $(q,q)$-biprojective almost perfect nonlinear (APN) functions over $\mathbb{LL} \times \mathbb{LL}$ under the natural left and right action of $\mathrm{GL}(2,\mathbb{LL})$ where $\mathbb{LL}$ is a finite field of characteristic $2$. This shows in particular that the only quadratic APN functions (up to CCZ-equivalence) over $\mathbb{LL} \times \mathbb{LL}$ that satisfy the so-called subfield property are the Gold functions and the function $\kappa : \mathbb{F}_{64} \to \mathbb{F}_{64}$ which is the only known APN function that is equivalent to a permutation over $\mathbb{LL} \times \mathbb{LL}$ up to CCZ-equivalence. The $\kappa$-function was introduced in (Browning, Dillon, McQuistan, and Wolfe, 2010). Deciding whether there exist other quadratic APN functions (possibly CCZ-equivalent to permutations) that satisfy subfield property or equivalently, generalizing $\kappa$ to higher dimensions was an open problem listed for instance in (Carlet, 2015) as one of the interesting open problems on cryptographic functions.